It’s easy for customers to forget that competition between manufacturers begins long before products hit store shelves. The supply chain is the first great battleground, and Apple’s ridiculous success has been partly due to its victories there. The company often makes exclusive deals with suppliers that tie key components up for years and leave rivals looking sluggish.

Apple’s clever manipulation of the supply chain is a big reason why it took Android phones a year and a half to have something similar to the iPhone’s Retina Display, and it’s also part of the reason that the first Ultrabooks didn’t show up until the MacBook Air had been around for three full years.

Apparently Apple is none too happy about some of those Ultrabooks, and is willing to flex its supply chain muscle in order to do something about it. The company has reportedly pressured Taiwanese supplier Pegatron into dropping its production of the ASUS Zenbook, due to its striking similarities to the MacBook Air.

The great irony here is that Pegatron was spawned as a spinoff of Asustek (ASUS). Pegatron is independent now, but still has ties to its former parent company. Business comes first, though, and Apple is one of the biggest technology companies in the world and a very important client. So Asus is left to turn to other suppliers for the Zenbook, like Compal and Wistron.

As you can see in our side-by-side comparison of the MacBook Air with the Zenbook, Asus’ ultrabook is one of the most striking Air clones. It features a similar Unibody construction (the casing is carved out of a single piece of aluminum), with nearly-identical dimensions and specs. It’s a top choice for anyone who likes the MacBook Air, but prefers Windows.

When it comes to Apple’s relationship with its competition, the company appears to have a long-term memory. Back in the late 80s and 90s, Apple nearly went under after cheaper Windows computers “borrowed” many of the Mac line’s best features and eventually took over the PC market.

Now, after finding resounding 21st century success, Apple is waging a fierce patent war against Android manufacturers, and pulling supply chain strings to handicap these MacBook Air copycats. Though Apple’s 90s decline is in no danger of repeating itself (anytime soon), these moves reveal a company that is still deeply territorial about its innovation. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but apparently Apple wants none of it.